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Tips for Recording Voiceover at Home

• Visual Content
• 31 August,2021

If you are an entrepreneur and want to place your own voice as a commentary voice to a video, you are your own voice-over. For example, with a slide-show video or a corporate video. As an entrepreneur, you generally do not have your own professional studio. Often you will simply record your voice-over from the video editing program.

A voice-over is a profession in its own right. But that doesn’t mean you can’t do it yourself. But keep a number of things in mind. So that it sounds as professional as possible.

 

Tip 1. Microphone with voice-over

If you record your voice-over using your laptop, it is a good idea to connect a separate external microphone. You can record your voice with the internal microphone of your laptop or computer, but this usually sounds a bit sluggish. 

 

Tip 2. Colloquialism

Use spoken language. As soon as you work out your voice-over on paper, you may end up writing very formal written language. And that usually doesn’t come across so well in a voice-over. So use spoken language in your preparation.

 

Tip 3. Experiment

A voice-over requires a little more “enthusiasm” here and there. In terms of emotion, you do not have to cry or laugh but the story must be sensible. Experiment with that so you find your voice-over voice. For example, by deliberately exaggerating the pronunciation of something, or by the tempo, or by intonation.

 

Tip 4. Pre-read

Before you start recording, it is useful to read your text aloud, especially with longer texts. Good preparation makes the actual recording time a lot shorter. You don’t have to re-do anything so often. This also saves a lot of time during the editing process.

 

Tip 5. Record while standing

Experience the difference between recording sitting down and standing up. Standing helps to tell the story with more swagger. You can also try to walk around, maybe you like that more. 

 

Tip 6. Tea and honey?

Your voice is the instrument of a voice-over. That means it has to be well lubricated. Coffee, alcohol, cigarettes…they don’t help much. It is better to have a little water at a time, or tea. Of course, having a cold doesn’t help either.

 

Tip 7. Breathing

In the past, clearly audible breathing during a voice-over was more or less not so done. Of course, you have to breathe (duh!), but if you were a voice-over specialist back then you practiced breathing more quietly. If you are an entrepreneur doing your voice-over, you are not that specialist. But you can reduce the effect by breathing in logical places. So not in the middle of a sentence. Rather, cut your sentence into chunks. You can also turn your head away from the microphone during a breath. Unless you are breathing lightly.

 

Tip 8. Descend or ascend

If you ask a question as a voice-over, your voice usually goes up a little. In other sentences, it will go down at the end. So that a clear point can be felt by the viewer/listener. The latter does not always happen: often a voice goes up to where it should end up down. Incidentally, this is also more pleasant for the editing. If a sentence has to be taken out (without detracting from the story) it is easier if the points are correct.

 

Tip 9. The gremlins: uh…oh…Uhm

Too many uh’s and Uhm’s have to do with not being well prepared. If you know your story well you can minimize this or even eliminate this. It doesn’t mean it can never happen, especially if it is a functional part of your text. Depending on the type of video, it won’t always bother people right away. But if you notice it once it becomes a pattern throughout your voiceover, you keep hearing it. That is not pleasant to listen to, so try to minimize it with practicing.